Label body comes unstuck

At a time when there is increased focus on the need to reduce the number of industry associations, the Label and Tag Manufacturers Association (LATMA) has gone the other way, splitting along state lines.

The rift comes in the wake of moves to create a national organisation for LATMA, replacing the previous state-based organisations. While the NSW and Victorian associations have signed up to the national body, the most powerful of the state organisations, South Australia, has baulked at joining the new set-up, deciding instead to go it alone.

Despite the break-away, Frank Gavrilos, (pictured) the current national president of LATMA and director of AC Labels in Sydney, remains hopeful that South Australia will eventually come round to joining the national set-up and says that, in the meantime, LATMA will continue to work with the standalone
branch.

"They will survive and continue to provide value to their members. We need to show that we can deliver programs of value to our members," he said. Gavrilos pointed out that some label manufacturers in South Australia have already joined the national organisation in addition to their state-based association. LATMA also has members based in Queensland and Western Australia.

According to Gavrilos, the motivation behind the setting up a national label association was to avoid the unnecessary duplication of work around the country resulting from each state-based association having to run its own administration and programs.

"It's mainly about efficiency of resources, both human and financial," he commented. "By not having to duplicate work around the country, we will get better programs and have more resources to work with.

"It's already opened a few doors," he added.

Gavrilos nominated a continued focus on training and working internationally on website portals for technical and marketing information as two areas that the new LATMA intends to develop. The association has previously provided training in lean manufacturing and is now looking to offer some form of leadership program for the label industry. NSW and Victoria will also continue to run their own social programs for state-based members.

Looking ahead, the next major event for the association is the annual awards night and AGM which will be held in Melbourne on November 17 while the
bi-annual conference is set down for March next year.